ThePensmith

In hopes that their digital platforms get a tidy up, I have compiled a fantasy set of digital singles packages. I've consulted their Discogs and Wikipedia to try and get every remix and B-side accounted for, and this is what I've put together. Couple of pointers on each of these: 1) Doing this made me realise they had a hell of a lot of megamixes on their singles. They loved megamixes like Steps loved doing double-A-sides 🤣 2) Much like S Club had a version of "Alive" with Rachel doing lead vocal in place of Jo who was absent for its promo due to her back injury, so too did "Let's Dance" have a version with Ritchie taking Sean's lead vocal after his leave of absence during promo for the single. I don't think it's ever been commercially released but this would surely be the opportunity for it. 3) "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was a track recorded for the Kingsize album but ultimately didn't make the final cut. As the name suggests, it was a song that extensively sampled the Def Leppard song of the same name. Popjustice wrote about it here and said it was essentially "Everybody Get Up Part II". If not added to a single package, they could surely put it on a new version of the Greatest Hits ahead of the tour?

Nine more dates have been added and many are now sold out already after general sale this morning! Absolutely loving this for them. I have to say as well, watching all their interviews of the last week or so, it's so clear that they have a genuine bond again after their little Airbnb jaunt Scott arranged, and are just happy and enjoying it for what it is. And as a fan my hope had dimmed somewhat after The Big Reunion that we would ever see them all back again so I am buzzingwith joy. Long may that continue to the tour and beyond.

Couple more interviews from Hits Radio and Manchester Evening News from the last few days:

Got pit for second O2 date on AEG presale this morning ☺️🤘🏻🔥 They've also added two Irish dates in Belfast and Dublin:

A second O2 date has been added for Weds 12th Nov - on sale Friday!

No presale joy for me this morning 😒 Just hoping they add more dates ahead of general on Friday. On a positive tickets look to be quite decently priced!

BBC Breakfast interview this morning:

JLS were my first ☺️ Went to see them at Hammersmith Apollo on their first tour in 2010. Filmed for their DVD that night as well so lots of great memories of that show!

Take That are the obvious ones here. But I'd actually put a vote in for Steps as well. When they came back with "Scared of the Dark" in 2017 it was a real moment and it felt like they'd found a way to update their sound but also win a new audience. OK their singles success may be long behind them but they can still shift albums and tours. I went to see them just up the road from me at Chelmsford Racecourse a couple of years back, and it was honestly one of the best gigs I've been to, they had such a wide audience that it really took me by surprise.

They've gone up a bit tardily considering the album came out four months ago, but they've been adding some more J15 stuff to their YouTube in the last few weeks: The last video of these is particularly interesting to watch as it has the previously unseen rushes from their video for "Hallelujah" which obviously would have been their single if they'd won The X Factor. Parallel universe!

The next batch of their singles - Coming Home Now up to A Different Beat - have now been added to DSPs: "A Different Beat" is probably one of my favourite singles of theirs. It's giving "Storms In Africa" by Enya but if done by a boyband!

They appear to be relishing in social content 🤣 InstagramFive on Instagram: "How’d we do? 🤣"16K likes, 584 comments - itsfiveofficial on March 3, 2025: "How’d we do? 🤣". InstagramFive on Instagram: "Five bad boys without the power to st...5,113 likes, 263 comments - itsfiveofficial on March 3, 2025: "Five bad boys without the power to stop a lift…". They're also on BBC Breakfast tomorrow, I believe The One Show later in the week as well. I do wonder if we'll get their singles back catalogue / 4K videos etc tidied up on DSPs ahead of the tour?

I was gonna say the unfortunate timing of the 3 Lions 98 / Vindaloo duopoly was what scuppered "Got The Feelin'" - but it did have a very good chart run nonetheless. A channel I'm subscribed to on YouTube uploaded their performance of it from TOTP the other day (and all their others) and they're all wearing different World Cup related football strips to tie into it being on at the time. It's one of my lasting memories of that song! "Don't Wanna Let You Go" is the only single of theirs not in their top 10 list so I'm assuming it sold less than "Closer To Me" did? They also had a couple of cancelled singles: "It's The Things You Do" was meant to come out here March 1999 following it's release in the States the previous October. "Two Sides To Every Story" was also meant to be a single after "We Will Rock You" in October 2000 to time with their live DVD coming out as well.

Have to say been watching clips back online today. So delighted for Jade, she really deserved it and last night felt like it was the start of something big for her. Sabrina Carpenter and Sam Fender were good as well I thought, very deserving winners. Good year for the BRITs in all I'd say which in this day and age is a lot!

So they were at the BRIT Awards last night - coincidentally 25 years to the very night they opened the show with Queen doing "We Will Rock You"! Jack Whitehall predictably gave them a mild roasting (and a very on the nose joke involving Stormzy and Five Guys 🤣)

Oh same. S Club 7 used to do it as well and I always remember thinking it cost them several number ones!

I was gonna say that their three singles prior to "Keep On Movin'" were an unlucky run. Although that said, it was only with "If Ya Gettin' Down" that they were truly in with a shot of being number one, it was number one all week until Ricky Martin took a last minute surge of 3,900 copies on the Saturday (as he had done the week before with Steps and "Love's Got a Hold On My Heart", which had also been midweek number one). With "Everybody Get Up" they were #2 on 82,000 copies - just over 34,500 behind All Saints who were number one with "Bootie Call" that week (which I bought that week - so I was partly responsible for that happening!), and with "Until the Time Is Through" they were #2 on 84,000 and were 55k+ behind Cher with "Believe" on its fifth week, so were never in contention for the top those times. Some of it was also owing to the fact they priced all said singles at £3.99 first week - All Saints for example were £1.99 with "Bootie Call" in that week so they sold more on the strength of that (it fell to #7 a week later). The one instance where they were lucky to be #1 was with "We Will Rock You", as Ronan Keating "Life Is A Rollercoaster" which they knocked off the top from the previous week had a big chunk of its original CD1 sales disqualified - over 100k - because they broke chart regulations on having a CD-Rom video featured on it but not of the actual song. Had it not been disqualified, that would have missed out.

Link Not surprised at "Got The Feelin'" being their second best seller. That and B*Witched "C'est La Vie" were on constant rotation for me that summer, I had the cassette singles of both! Pretty flawless singles run really when you look at it. Buzzing for the tour!

Full video of the press conference they did today hosted by Sara Cox:

At last, it worked! Thank you so much ☺️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnbjEOpv0IE/ - thanks, it's this one 👍🏻

I've tried that but it's just showing the URL and not the video?

Really sorry if this is an obvious question - and I did read the Upgrade and Downtime thread and the fact it's not BBCode now - but I'm having real trouble embedding YouTube videos into posts. Not sure what I'm doing wrong - please can someone help?

Interview on Heart Radio this morning!

New interview with Scott on his podcast A to Z of Men that he hosts with his friend Chris Brooks talking about the reunion. Turns out we (partially) have Olly Murs to thank for his management reaching out to him and getting on board to get this tour under way! https://open.spotify.com/episode/0C5REJqrFgXIQPR6DUkOw0?si=gWq54NE0Qj-Ewg9Zw-djAA